From another comment I made

A linux installer for windows that works just like a normal installer on windows. You download the .exe, double click it, it opens a wizard you can walk though, and by the end of the process, after it reboots, you’re in a linux distro.

How could something like this be implemented?

My idea:

Best case scenario where multiple data partitions exist and can accommodate the user data stored on C:/ + there’s a swap partition -->

  • download a linux iso
  • deactivate swap
  • replace swap partition with ISO contents
  • modify contents to auto install linux with settings from wizard
  • add boot entry to boot from old swap / modified ISO
  • reboot
  • install linux with a nice progress animation
    • move user data from C:/ to other partition
    • replace C:/ with linux
    • install alternatives to programs found on windows (firefox for edge, gimp for paint, inkscape for …, libreoffice for MS office, etc.)
    • move user data to /home/$username
    • configure DE with theme (gnome for macos look, kde with theme for windows look)
    • other customisations
  • reboot into linux

Dunno if this is feasible in the best case scenario.

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  • @SteveTech@programming.dev
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    21 month ago

    I don’t think Windows has swap partitions, you could maybe install a basic installer to the recovery partition, repartition in that (copying the ISO between partitions), then load the full ISO.

    • @onlinepersona@programming.devOP
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      11 month ago

      I wasn’t aware windows didn’t have a swap partition. Thanks for pointing that out. Using the recovery partition instead should work too 🤔 I currently don’t have a windows PC to test this on, nor find out how big the recovery partition is.

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